Patriots, Texans succeed with positive balance

Offensive balance — or the lack thereof — and its relationship to the success or failure of the Patriots has been a recurring topic of conversation this season. It was all the rage after they lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, a game in which Tom Brady attempted 46 passes and his running backs got 27 totes.

Offensive balance — or the lack thereof — and its relationship to the success or failure of the Patriots has been a recurring topic of conversation this season.

It was all the rage after they lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, a game in which Tom Brady attempted 46 passes and his running backs got 27 totes. It was the same story three weeks later following a setback to the Seattle Seahawks after Brady hoisted 58 passes and handed off 26 times.

And it was a hot-button halftime topic in Miami last Sunday.

The Patriots passed on 79 percent of their offensive snaps (26 of 33, excluding a Brady carry) in the first 30 minutes, after which they led by a touchdown. The top-heavy aerial approach left fans perplexed as Brady & Co. struggled mightily.

Then they went out and flipped it around, running 60 percent of the time (21 of 35, excluding three Brady carries) while leaning on backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen, to clinch the win. “That’s more like it” was the prevailing opinion back in New England.

Of the Patriots’ nine wins, they’ve run more than they’ve passed in four of them. In the other five, they passed an average of 57 percent of the time.

In the three defeats, their passing percentages were 63, 55 and 69.

But just how much of a correlation is there between balance and the role it plays in winning and losing? (See chart, Page C2)

Of the 11 teams in the league with the most balanced offenses, seven are .500 or better. That includes the 9-3 Patriots and 11-1 Houston Texans, who meet tomorrow night at Gillette Stadium, and the 8-3-1 San Francisco 49ers, who’ll be in town a week from today.

When it comes to the 11 teams being the least balanced — that is, they have the highest percentage of pass plays — seven have a losing record. But mixed in there are the 6-6 Dallas Cowboys, 11-1 Atlanta Falcons, 8-4 Indianapolis Colts and 9-3 Baltimore Ravens.

That would suggest it’s more important to excel at what you do, no matter what it is and how often it’s done. However, there are tangible benefits to being balanced.

“I think it’s important that your team knows it can win a lot of ways,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “I think if you’re locked into, ‘This is how win, this is our only strength,’ I think those things catch up with you. We obviously would like to be a balanced football team.

“Everything we do starts with us running the ball. But we’ve been caught in some shootouts where we’ve had to go out there and throw it 55, 60 times, too. So I don’t think you ever know what type of game you’re going to get in but I think it’s important that your team is confident they can win all kinds of ways.”

Bill Belichick doesn’t care how his team wins, so long as it does. If he believed it advantageous to not throw or run once in a game you can bet he’d do it.

His coaching mentor came close to doing just that on at least one occasion. In his second year as coach of the Patriots, Bill Parcells had Drew Bledsoe pass 70 times while the running backs totaled 10 carries against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 13, 1994.

The lopsided approach worked, with the rebuilding Patriots winning by six points in overtime. The victory ignited a seven-game winning streak that propelled the franchise to its first playoff berth in eight years.

That said, Belichick believes it’s mutually beneficial when an offense can pass and run with equal efficiency.

“I think it’s a great way to play because it just forces the defense to have to react and cover everything,” he explained. “Defensively, I think that’s where you want them. You want them to have to think about all their responsibilities — outside runs, inside runs, deep passes, short passes, screen passes, misdirection plays, point-of-attack plays, inside routes, outside routes, inside receivers, outside receivers.

“To have good balance kind of keeps them from ganging up on one thing. If you can do that, then it opens up a lot of other things.”

Teams that can successfully mix it up then have an advantageous ace they’re able to pull out from time to time. Defenses have to respect the run, which in turns allows the offense to set up a pass by faking a run.

The Texans and Patriots are among the best teams in the league when it comes to utilizing the play-action pass.

“I think any time you run the football successfully your play-action game is definitely helped by that,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said, later adding, “Like always, you try to mirror a lot of your action passes with some of your run formations or run actions and really try to put some stress on the defense and marry the two things together.”

It’s a delicate balance, finding the right mix of runs and passes. But the Patriots and Texans, with a combined record of 20-4, have successfully done that thus far, making their matchup tomorrow night undeniably appealing and especially intriguing.

CDL A DELIVERY DRIVERS Home Every Night! Needed for our Worcester Depot! Drive local - No more spending valuable nights away from your family! As a Direct Store Delivery Representative YOU have the opportunity to make a difference with our customers! Provide excellent customer service; interact in a positive manner with our customers; deliver our products to local stores. Be home every night! Work for a Company that has been around for over 80 years! Minimum of 3 months driving experience with CDL A/B; GED or HS diploma required; Must be able to drive a standard transmission. EEO/Veteran/Disability Growing Strong Since1933!